I was a 29 year old mother of three who had spent eleven years with my love. I was widowed. This diary begins five years after his death. I hope to capture the memories of this journey. The lessons. The joy. The sadness. The humor. The faith. The hope.

This was not an immediate change - and I did OK for the first few months.

By OK I mean that on the multiple mornings I would hit the snooze and not be up in time to take the garbage out to the curb before they came to pick it up, there were no additional incidents. I do believe my cold location was a definite benefit. I was able to store up a few weeks of garbage without any odor or mishaps.

When I moved, I knew I had to do something different with my garbage. Early Tuesday morning was not working for me - and I didn't have any men showing up at my doorstop volunteering to assume the chore of taking the garbage out. I had a friend with an apartment complex that had an on-site dumpster... and he was kind enough to allow me to use it.

This was the perfect solution. Aside from the few downsides, such as having to throw the bags in the back of my car and people looking at my strangely, truly not understanding why I would take my garbage somewhere when there were these things called Garbage Trucks that come and pick it up at your house. They didn't understand the inconvenience of having to be so structured. I am not a very structured person in some areas. So, to be told the exact date and time for my garbage to be on the curb...I found it highly inconvenient. It has been great! No early mornings... complete flexibility. Isn't it funny how little things seem to simplify your life tremendously?

The only hitch in my whole garbage plan is when the tenants call the landlord (my friend) and report the crazy lady throwing garbage in his dumpster! My friend always thanks them for their watchful eye and promises to take care of it.